Coalition gathering strength to oppose Redskins at Gophers' stadium

Blog Post by: Rochelle Olson

August 28, 2014 - 12:42 PM

The Washington Redskins shouldn't be allowed to use their offensive team name while playing on the Minnesota Vikings on the University of Minnesota campus Nov. 2, according to a coalition vowing a strong fight against the use of the word or mascot.

Led by prominent American Indian leaders, a group stood outside TCF Bank Stadium on Thursday morning to call on the university to ban the team's name. The group also said it is considering a lawsuit because it considers the use of the name in a public facility to be illegal.

The group says the word Redskins is highly offensive, dating back to how blood would run down an Indian's body after he had been scalped.

David Glass says the Indian group wants the word banned at the stadium. It also wants fans to be barred from wearing "any kind of denigrating face paint" or head wear. The group doesn't want Redskins memorabilia to be sold in the park or have the team name used by announcers during the game.

The Vikings are playing at the stadium for two seasons while their new $1 billion facility is built on the site of the former Metrodome.

The Redskins come to town Nov. 2. The protesters say they will have thousands at the game objecting to the use of the name and they want to be able to roam freely on the stadium grounds not be "penned up" in a confined area.

Glass said the group is hoping their news conference would spur the university to take action to ban the word.

Spike Moss, a longtime Minneapolis activist, said the term is akin to having a football team called the "Little Black Sambos" or the n-word.